When It's Over
by Cimmy
Summary: Winning Connie back seems to be harder than Guy thought when Rick Riley, Scooter’s crush on Julie, Luis’ relationship with Traci, and the Ducks’ unsolicited advice interfere with his chance to be with the girl he loves. [Co written with NYgoldfish54]
1. Chapter 1

Oh, yes, we're back. /grins/

We just couldn't bear the thought of not collaborating again, now when **It's Summer In My Heart** is finished, because it's just too much fun. It might even take _less_ than two years to finish this one. It's looking better and better, kids.

The title is based on the song (why change such a winning concept?) by Sugar Ray, and the story has a _real_ plot this time! Weee! Actually, it's a Connie/Guy story with lots of interactions from the other Ducks – and the Varsity team, especially Rick Riley. As Traci Michaels is practically fanon now, apparently, that's the name we're using - a name originally created by **VictoryThruTears**.

And I just have to add, as Kristine boosted my already quite oversized ego with her last comment in Summer, that I love co-writing with her and I'm just overly delighted that she wanted to write another story with me, and if it was up to me, we'd keep co-writing 'til the day she snuffs it. /nods/ I couldn't be happier that she's my friend, really. We'll conquer the world one day, you'll se.

This story is awesome, by the way. Read it, review, and be amazed at how well we work together.

/Cimmy (who else would be this random?) & Kristine

* * *

**  
Chapter One**

Guy waited for Connie out on the lawns. Eden Hall had big, green lawns surrounding the prestigious school buildings where he and his friends were earning their high school education through hockey scholarships.

It hadn't been easy so far. Guy and his friends, the Ducks, had been treated like outcasts by many of Eden Hall's financial elite. Poorer, younger, and generally less refined than many of the other students at Eden Hall, Guy and the Ducks had been tormented by the people who considered themselves superior, particularly, the Varsity hockey team.

The team - well, Charlie more than anyone else - had internal conflicts as well, and they'd all had a problem with their new coach, Ted Orion. Hans had died, Banks was gone, and Portman hadn't even shown up. The team was going down the tubes, losing games, and they'd been on the verge of losing their scholarships. If it hadn't been for Bombay's legal knowledge, they _would_ have lost their scholarships, and then the Ducks would have truly been dead. The out of state Ducks would have gone home, and the District Five Ducks would be sent back to their inner-city high schools. Back to the gangs, drugs, and guns; lucky to survive with their lives, let alone an education.

But slowly things had begun to turn around. Charlie found himself, and came back to the team. They'd learned to understand and get along with Coach Orion, who turned out to be a good guy. He seemed to understand them a little better now, too. Bombay had kept them in school, Banks and Portman had both shown up in the nick of time, and with some combination of training, talent, and good luck, the Junior Varsity Ducks had managed to defeat the Varsity Warriors 1-0 in the annual JV/Varsity hockey showdown.

With that victory, the Ducks had won some of the respect they had been denied for the first two months they'd been in school. The Varsity hockey team still hated all things Duck, but they couldn't really say or do anything. The Ducks had beaten them, and earned supreme bragging rights – at least for the rest of the year. And the Ducks were no longer treated so badly by other students. A couple people had even shouted "Hey Guy," as he'd walked down to where he was supposed to meet Connie. He'd smiled at them, but hadn't really stopped to talk to anyone, out of fear of being late. He didn't want to be late and keep Connie waiting.

The strain on the Ducks had driven Connie and Guy apart. Everything had been going downhill so fast that they couldn't stop themselves from feeling that strain on their relationship. Guy was much more sympathetic towards Charlie's feelings than Connie would have liked. She had wanted him to suck it up and stop being such a baby so that they could be the Ducks again, and while Guy wanted that too, he was too afraid that Charlie was going to hurt himself to worry much about anything else.

Anyway, one small fight turned into two small fights, and then two small fights had turned into three, and finally, there was one big breakup, not long before the unofficial JV/Varsity showdown, where the Ducks got the crap kicked out of them and ended with a brawl between Charlie and Banks.

As a result of the breakup, Guy hadn't spent much time with Connie for a couple of months. They hadn't talked much at first, then small talk, and now they were almost friends again. With the team doing better, they started doing better.

But he had found, as the days went by, that he missed Connie. He missed her terribly. He had dreams about her, and couldn't help but noticing more than usual how pretty she was, and how her shirts and jeans fit her so perfectly. He tried to get over her, but he couldn't. He still loved her. He was pretty sure she still felt the same way she always did, because she treated him the same way as she had always done, except she didn't kiss him anymore.

And so he decided to ask her out again. This time they'd figure out a way to separate the Ducks from their relationship. Even though the Ducks were such a big part of them, they'd learn to separate the Ducks from themselves. Guy believed they could do that if they tried. They loved each other, and as far as Guy was concerned, anything was possible.

So Guy waited for Connie out on the lawn where she'd agreed to meet him. It was early November, and the sun was weak, so he wore a jacket to protect him from the chill. He noticed a lot of the kids had nicer jackets then he did, but that really shouldn't be surprising to him, he realized, because they had more money than he did. They'd always have nicer things if their fathers were CEOs of Fortune 500 companies while his father was manager of a grocery store.

He sat there on the grass for about ten minutes, watching the lake, and remembering his and Connie's first kiss. It was just after they'd won the Peewee Championship. Charlie had just made his penalty shot, and Connie had been about a foot taller than him at the time, but it was still one of their best kisses. It wasn't a particularly great kiss, as it was sort of wet and a little awkward because it was in front of so many people, but it was the first one, and there was always something magical and memorable about a first kiss. He was remembering Averman tease them mercilessly three days later when he felt somebody tap on his shoulder and a light voice say, "Hey stranger."

Guy looked up, "Hey Connie," he smiled up at her. "I wanted to talk to you."

"I wanted to talk to you too!" she said excitedly. "I have something big to tell you!"

"Really?" he smiled. Maybe her dad had gotten that promotion he was up for. "What's your big news?"

"Somebody asked me out for Friday night!"

Any elation Guy had been feeling at the thought of going out with Connie again quickly faded. He could feel the blood leave his face a little bit. "Yeah?" he said, trying to keep his voice neutral. "Who asked you out?"

When she answered him, Guy threw up in his mouth a little bit.

* * *

"This… this… this is _not_ happening," Guy complained frantically, pacing back and forth in the room he shared with Luis, now and then aiming kicks at the bed. Luis was watching him as he stormed through the room. "I mean, sure, it's awful that's she's even dating at all, but dating that… that… _him_! What the hell is she thinking, huh! I mean, God!" 

"I know, this is-"

"Unbelievable, that's what it is!" Guy interrupted instantly. "And gross! It's… it's… it's…"

"Rick Riley," Luis said with a grimace, wincing at the very thought.

"I know! What _is_ she thinking? That he just suddenly turned into a decent guy? He's Rick Riley! There's not a bit of decency in him anywhere!"

"Maybe she fell for his charm?" Luis suggested carefully. Guy, who had just aimed another kick at the bed, turned so abruptly that he hit his knee against the desk instead. Luis listened while Guy swore loudly, then continued. "I just mean that he can be quite… persuasive… when he wants to be. Look, man, Traci's told me about him, how he is, and-"

"I don't wanna hear it," Guy muttered, throwing his hands into the air. "Connie would never fall for him. She doesn't fall for tricks. She's too smart for that!"

"I don't know what to tell you," Luis said dejectedly. "It's a damn shame that she fell for him-"

"She has _not_ fallen for him!" Guy exclaimed, almost hysterically.

"-but I don't know what there's to do about it, really," Luis finished. "I agree that Connie's a smart girl, which probably means that she knows something about Riley that we don't. Maybe she really-"

"Don't say it!"

"-likes him."

"H-h-how is this _supporting_ me!" Guy asked exasperatedly, once again starting to walk back and forth, now limping slightly with every step. "I have to tell Charlie. I have to tell him. He'll be _outraged_!"

"Maybe-"

"Not to mention how angry Fulton will be! He will, won't he?" Guy went on, waving at Luis to be quiet. "And Goldberg is gonna… oh, he won't _believe_ it, and Luis will be-"

"I'm Luis."

"Oh, right. Yeah, you'll be mad too, and _Averman_-"

"Averman?" Luis asked doubtfully, wondering when Guy would come to his senses again.

Guy stomped his foot into the floor, whimpering quietly as the pain in his knee grew. "Of course! Come on, we gotta go tell 'em right away. Riley won't know what hit-"

"Guy, have you ever considered that if Connie likes this guy, she'll be twice as upset with you if you attempt to kill him?" Luis pointed out, hoping Guy would respond to some good old rationality.

"Good suggestion! We should kill him!" Guy replied, nodding and snapping his fingers. "I like that. We should write this down."

Luis watched as Guy stumbled over the desk and snatched a piece of paper out of a notepad. "Guy, man…"

"What did you say? 'Kill'…. 'Him'…" Guy mumbled while scribbling it down on the paper. "We need something more."

"No, you need to _chill_," Luis finally said loudly, getting up from the bed and grabbing the piece of paper, crumpling it together and throwing it in the bin. Guy whimpered again, as the paper disappeared. "If you don't stop hyperventilating, I'll bring you to the nurse!"

"You don't know how bad this is," Guy explained, putting down the pen on the desk again. "Connie's supposed to be… she's…"

"I know, man," Luis said, sighing deeply. He could only imagine how it would feel if Traci would leave him and start dating Rick again. "But having a panic attack won't solve anything. I doubt Connie would listen to you if you act this incoherent and deranged. You know, there's not one time she hasn't chosen you over, say, someone else."

Guy looked up, unable to give up a short snort with laughter. Luis had been quite the flirt with Connie when they'd first met, during the Junior Goodwill Games, trying in every way possible to charm her, but in the end Guy had won out. Guy didn't feel any resentment against Luis for it; after all, it was years ago now. "I guess you're right. Still think I should tell Charlie, though…"

"Umm, yeah, but leave the list, alright?"

Guy went for the door, looking more determined than ever. "Adam should know his weaknesses, right? After all, they played together for-"

"-less than two months?" Luis filled in.

"Practically best friends, probably," Guy muttered absently, hurrying out into the hallway. Luis sighed, following him, hoping to avert Guy's attention enough to keep him from announcing to the school about how Connie Moreau was dating Rick Riley.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry for the delay. I am possibly the worst co-writer in the world and that's the reason for why it took forever to finish my part. Kristine finished her part weeks ago, so it's all my fault. Sorry!

Hope you enjoy it!

/Cimmy & Kristine

* * *

**Chapter Two**

Connie Moreau applied make up to her face and explained her situation to roommate and good friend, Julie Gaffney.

Julie and Connie, the only two girls on the Ducks hockey team, shared a room by default. The team had been moved to the dorms after Coach Orion had decided it would be easier for them to be on campus all the time rather than have to rush back and forth between their homes and the school. That was a forty-five minutes commute for some of the Ducks. Julie, being from out of state, had a dorm already. She'd had another roommate who'd transferred out to another school, and Connie had moved in about a week later. Nobody had asked either of them anything about the kind of roommate they preferred, they had just been stuck together on the assumption that since they were the only two girls on the JV hockey team, they were also best friends. As far as both were concerned, it was lucky they liked each other.

"But Connie," Julie said as she tried to talk Connie out of this date next Friday for the third time, "He's Rick Riley. What could you possibly have in common?"

"Hockey," Connie answered simply, putting on some mascara. "You can't talk me out of this, Julie, stop trying." Julie sighed, and Connie continued, "Besides, it'll be good for me. It's been a while since I went out on a date with anyone who wasn't Guy."

"Have you _ever_ gone out with someone who isn't Guy?" Julie asked.

"Well, no," Connie admitted. She hadn't ever gone out with anyone besides Guy. Not seriously anyway. Nobody else had ever asked her, seriously, and not been rejected. If he bothered her about it, Guy told him to back off. If he continued bothering her about it, Guy threw some punches. It was that simple. "But that doesn't mean this can't work out."

"If it was anybody else, I'd agree, but this is Rick Riley," Julie said again and sighed. "What did Guy have to say about it all, anyway?"

"He seemed okay with it, from what I could tell," Connie said. "He did look a little pale though…and he was in a hurry to get away from me not long after I told him. He'd said that he'd wanted to talk to me, but took off before even mentioning whatever it was he wanted to talk about."

"He's probably just worried that Rick Riley has got other motivations to ask you out other than that he really likes you," Julie said, sounding slightly nervous about the whole thing again.

"Actually, Julie, I tend to agree with you that Rick's got ulterior motives in asking me out. What, he goes from mortal enemy to wanting to get to know me better in a month? I mean, come on," Connie said.

Connie did have doubts about whether or not Rick's desire to "get to know the prettiest girl in the freshman class" as he put it, was genuine. It'd hardly been a month since the JV/Varsity showdown, and it didn't seem likely that Rick Riley, who'd given Connie and her friends such grief, would do a complete one eighty like that just because he thought she was pretty. She still looked the same way she had before the JV/Varsity showdown, what had changed?

"So why are you going out with him?" Julie asked, lying back on her bed and looking at the ceiling.

Connie hesitated for a moment. Why _was_ she going out with him? "Because maybe he doesn't have ulterior motives. Maybe he is trying to be nice. Maybe he does like me," she said, and while it sounded convincing, she wasn't sure she fooled herself or Julie with her reply.

"You answered why he would go out with you, not the other way around," Julie said, sitting up on her bed again.

Connie was tired of being asked questions she couldn't answer. "I don't know why I'm going out with him," she said. "He's good looking, and he's a senior, and he's…he's not…"

"He's not Guy?" Julie finished the sentence she'd been reluctant to end herself.

"Well, yeah, there's that too," Connie said, biting her lower lip. "But that's not the only reason."

Connie had been struggling to get over Guy since the day they broke up. It was hard for her to lose him, and while there'd been a lot less yelling between the two of them and their relationship had healed since then, Connie was still reluctant to let Guy back into her life. They treated each other the same way they'd always had, but it was still different now. It was too hard for her to be "just friends" with him, and while she'd be open to giving it another shot as boyfriend and girlfriend, if they'd broken up during the first truly hard time they'd ever gone through, what chance did they really have together? And breaking up over and over again would just be difficult on them. It was just too hard for her. Connie would have rather just been in pain without Guy than cause both of them pain over and over. Guy seemed okay with their relationship right now, anyway. Why should she hold him back? The best way to go about it would be to get to the point where she was also okay with their relationship.

"I get the part about trying to get over Guy. We've been over that part of it a lot," Julie said, when Connie didn't elaborate. She continued, "It's just…it's Rick Riley. He's the same Varsity goon that tried to get us thrown out of school the first two months of this school year. How can he change so fast?"

"I don't know, Julie," Connie said. "But he did say he wanted to get to know me, so who knows? And besides, big Varsity goons aren't the end of the world. You've got one," Connie grinned, referring to Julie's relationship with Scooter.

"I don't have one," Julie said, shaking her head. "I've gone out with him a couple times, that's all."

"He adores you," Connie smiled, "Maybe you should go out with him more often."

"Yeah, yeah, maybe. I don't know," Julie sighed. "I'm suspicious of Scooter's motives too, to be honest."

"Why? He's certainly a kinder person than Rick ever was," Connie said.

"I don't know. I guess I just don't trust a lot of people," Julie shrugged. "But we're not talking about me right now. We did that last weekend. We're talking about you now."

"I have an idea," Connie said tiredly, "Let's talk about something else and go grab some food."

Julie let out a breath and said, "Sure, I'm hungry…but I still think going out with Rick Riley is a bad idea."

Julie jumped off her bed and walked out the door of their shared room, mumbling something about disasters waiting to happen.

Connie rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. Julie apologized for being so negative, but she said again that she just thought it was a bad idea. Connie didn't say it out loud, but no matter how she tried to convince Julie and herself otherwise, she thought Julie was probably right.

* * *

Scott had never been particularly close friends with Rick Riley. Had they not been on the same team, Scooter was quite sure they'd be rivals – even more so than they were now, that was. Their parents weren't fond of each other either, so the rivalry had always been there.

But it was one thing to greatly dislike a member of his team and another to betray someone's trust. Scooter valued being part of his team very much, and had never been anything but loyal to it. Even though some of the players on the team were flat-out morons, he still considered them, and himself, to be a unit. To be loyal to one's team was more important than any grudges.

He knew something was up, though. Riley's intentions were never as genuine as he tried to make them look. Ever since Scooter had started talking more with Julie, he'd also been cut off from the plotting and scheming against the Ducks. He could always tell when they'd been discussing the J/V team, as the other players fell completely silent each time he stepped into the room.

Scooter was well-aware how badly Riley wanted to get even with the Ducks. As much as he knew that, though, he was still at loss when it came to the Moreau situation. Riley hadn't ever mentioned this girl before he unexpectedly asked her out. Scooter thought it had to be part of a much larger plan of revenge, but Riley never hinted that it was anything more – the word would've gotten out about it by now if it was.

Scooter didn't have anything against Connie, or the Ducks, personally. The thing was that even if he knew Riley was out to destroy every Duck in sight, he couldn't do much about it. Riley's father was a powerful man, and part of the school's alumni. Scooter knew that his word alone wouldn't weigh much against Riley's, and as it were, the more internal conflicts they team had, the more disgrace they'd bring to it – something they really couldn't afford right now.

Yes, loyalty was a big thing for Scooter. He wasn't sure he was willing to betray the team he'd belonged to for so long, only to get back at Riley. Personal vendettas weren't things they had time for. They had to hold up the reputations of the team and the school - and so far, they'd done an awful job.

There was just that one thing, which seemed more important than everything else put together. What Julie Gaffney thought of him meant so much more.

And he knew that would become a problem soon.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

Hey everybody! Remember this story? Yeah, let's put the blame where it belongs. Kristine finished her part back in November, while I finished mine yesterday. I'm the loveliest co-writer in the world.

Please read and review and enjoy and all that. :)

/Cimmy & Kristine

* * *

**Chapter Three**

Adam sat quietly listening as Guy babbled on. Luis was there, as were Charlie, Goldberg, Fulton, and Portman. They were in the dining hall, getting something to eat before practice, though nobody was doing much eating. They were mostly listening to Guy rant.

"I think we should kill him," Guy said for about the twentieth time. "Maybe we could put cyanide in his food, or arsenic in his water bottle, or maybe we could just hit him with a rock – "

"He's been like this all afternoon," Luis cut in as Guy continued to poorly plan Rick Riley's untimely demise. "Anybody have any ideas on what to do?"

Charlie looked repulsed by the whole idea, and couldn't really get the look off his face. "Connie on a date with Rick Riley? Is that possible? It's disgusting! We can't let it happen!"

"Shut up, your panicked tone is dangerously close to his," Adam said, nodding at Guy, who was still mumbling, lost in his thoughts. Charlie stopped talking. If anything good had come from the fiasco that was the beginning of their freshman year, it was that Charlie had, for the most part, learned when to shut his mouth among friends.

"I'm sorry," Charlie said, "It's just that it's…wrong."

Portman chuckled. "Wrong? What exactly is _wrong_ about it?"

Charlie opened his mouth but Guy broke out of his incoherent mumbling to again verbally assault them. "She's Connie! He's Rick Riley! She's a Duck! He's a Warrior! She's the love of my life! He's our sworn enemy!"

"Um, yeah, there's that," Goldberg said, "Chill out, Guy. Relax. You're driving us crazy." Guy went back to furiously muttering to himself. "Connie's been with Guy since forever, and it's one thing to break up, it's another to go out with a sworn enemy. I wonder if Connie is doing this to get to Guy," Goldberg added.

"It's working," Portman observed.

Fulton, ever the wise one, finally spoke. "First of all, Connie wouldn't do anything to deliberately make Guy a raving lunatic. Second, maybe we should just let her do what she wants."

The five other heads turned to look at him. "What do you mean?" Adam asked. He played on the Varsity team for a month or two, and he knew better than anyone that Rick Riley's motives for doing anything weren't pure, but it'd taken Adam the better part of fifteen minutes to convince Guy that he, Adam, had no idea what those ulterior motives were.

"I mean, maybe this isn't any of our business – not even Guy's," Fulton explained, and Guy glared at him evilly. "She's not stupid."

"But it isn't right!" Guy whined. "I want to go out with her!"

"Oh shut up," Portman rolled his eyes. "If you don't stop moaning, I'm going to knock you on your ass."

"Obviously she doesn't feel that way about you," Fulton added. "Give her some space to figure everything out. And give the rest of us some time to figure out what Riley's up to."

Adam could tell that the advice of "give her some space" was not sitting well with Guy. He fidgeted and looked as though someone had stuck a load of crap under his nose.

"I don't want to give her space!" Guy said finally in a would-be-calm voice. "I don't want to see her go out with Rick Riley!"

Charlie shook his head. "I don't like it either, man, but you don't have a choice. She's a big girl, she can do what she wants."

"She's _my_ girl," Guy said bitterly.

"Not these days she's not," Charlie said shortly. "But maybe you can win her back."

"Win her back?" Guy said hopefully. Adam watched Fulton shake his head. Portman chuckled. Goldberg rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, win her back," Charlie said casually.

"How?"

"Is that really a good idea?" Luis cut in, looking clearly skeptical.

Adam could tell that he and Luis were on the same page about this. They could both see that Guy doing something like singing cheesy love songs under Connie and Julie's dorm window would not end happily ever after. It would probably be embarrassing for everyone, and Adam could picture Julie running down there in the middle of the night to explain to Guy that Connie was no longer speaking to him or that the entire girls' dorm thought he was gay for singing a bad version of Rod Stewart's _Have I Told You Lately_.

"Of course it's a good idea," Guy snapped. Luis rolled his eyes. "Continue, Charlie."

"I don't have any actual ideas. We'll have to come up with some," Charlie said, shrugging.

It was Goldberg's turn to sound doubtful. "What are you going to do, Guy? Write bad poetry? Can't you try playing it cool for a while first?"

"Shut up, Goldberg," Guy said.

"And are you really going to listen to Charlie?" Goldberg continued, as if Guy hadn't said anything at all. "He's not exactly a stud. And he's not really good at playing it cool. And he's not exactly smooth around the ladies."

"Shut up, Goldberg! When did this become 'pick on Charlie' time?" Charlie said. He looked a wonderful combination of confused, embarrassed, and annoyed. Adam smirked a little bit, but quickly coughed into his hand to hide it. He didn't want to pick a fight, but Goldberg had a fair point. Charlie was not a hottie by anyone's standards, totally blew his first date with Linda, and he was not really smooth with the girls.

"He's got a point, Charlie," Portman said easily. Charlie glared at him. Fulton elbowed Portman. "What?" Portman said, "I was just saying what everyone was thinking!"

Fulton shook his head at Portman. "Dude, how come you just make things worse wherever you go?"

"I do not!"

"Yeah, you do," Fulton insisted.

Portman laughed. "Yeah, I do."

Fulton rolled his eyes. "You might wanna work on that, Port," he said and then looked at Adam. "What do you think, Banksie? You've been quiet."

"I'm usually quiet," Adam answered. "But if you must know, I can't say I think this is a good idea."

"Does nobody but Charlie want me to get back together with Connie? Does nobody but Charlie and I see that Rick Riley is evil?" Guy sounded like the world was ending.

"Of course we all want that," Goldberg said patiently. "But Connie doesn't necessarily want to get back with you. And we all know Rick Riley is evil. But what can you do? And we don't want you to make a fool of yourself."

"How could I possibly make a fool of myself?" Guy asked.

"You really want us to answer that?" Portman asked.

"Yeah," Guy challenged, "How could I possibly make a fool of myself?"

Portman opened his mouth, but Fulton elbowed him again. "Just leave it, man. What did we just say about trying not to make things worse?"

"It's time to go," Goldberg said, cutting the conversation short and checking his watch. "Let's get out of here."

They all stood up. "Sleep on it before you do anything, Guy," Fulton advised.

But Adam could tell as they walked out of the dining hall that Guy was set on winning Connie back. Adam knew Riley was not a nice guy, but he also knew that Riley knew how to get what he wanted. He wished he knew what Riley wanted; it would make things much easier. But he didn't know what Riley wanted. He only knew that Guy wanted Connie back. Adam believed that Connie was supposed to be with Guy, it was one of the constants in his universe, and it brought him peace of mind. So in all honesty, he was hoping Connie would wise up and get back with Guy…or at least somebody other than Riley. But Adam was rooting for Guy. Of course he was. Guy was one of his best friends. Adam just hoped that this quest of Guy's didn't end in some kind of disaster.

* * *

After the last class of the day, Julie decided to head over to the library to work some more on one of her papers that were due the following week. The hallway was almost completely deserted, but as she made her way over to the stairway to the second floor, someone called out for her. "Julie, wait up."

She turned around towards the familiar voice, already knowing it was Scooter. "Hey," she said simply, not really in the mood for a chat with him. She'd already had her fill of Warrior related discussions this month.

"Hey," he smiled, throwing a quick look at the books she was carrying in her arms – at least that was what she was hoping he was looking at. "You goin' to the library?"

Julie started to walk again. "Yeah, I have some studying to do." There was a short, awkward silence while he tried to keep up with her pace. Then they both spoke at once. "Look, I have-"

"I've been thinkin'-" he started, but threw a glimpse at her and continued, "You go first."

"No, it was nothing important," she mumbled, wondering why he was suddenly acting so jittery. "Did you want something?"

"Yeah. I've been thinkin'…" he repeated, drawing a deep breath. "You know last week when we went out to see that movie?"

"Yeah…" Julie said slowly.

"And the week before that we went to that place to eat, you know?"

"Okay," she said even slower, now looking at him suspiciously, not knowing where the hell he was going with the stoic rantage.

"We never actually put a term on it, but I would think that they constitute as dates. So, I was kind of hoping you wouldn't mind going on another one."

Julie couldn't help but smile at this feeble display of affection. "With you?" she asked teasingly.

Scooter looked a bit confused for a second. "Yeah, that was the idea."

"I'm kidding," she assured him, walking up a few steps of the stairs. Scooter reached out and grabbed her hand before she could get any further. She turned to face him.

"So, what's the verdict?"

She stayed quiet for a moment, chewing on her lower lip. "I can't date you," she finally stated. "I'm sorry. It wouldn't work out." Her words had made him let go of her hand, so she took the opportunity to escape up the stairs and turn the corner. He caught up with her only seconds later.

"Okay, first: ouch," he said with a confounded expression, shaking his head slightly.

Julie shot him an apologizing smile. "I'm sorry. I just thought it would be better to be straight with you."

"Well, I disagree. A lie has never hurt anyone. Gee, way to let a guy down," he said, both sounding and looking a bit frantic and amazed at the same time.

"I'll try to remember that," she promised.

"For the next time you decide to rip my heart out?"

"Yeah, exactly." She stopped in the middle of the hallway. "Look, it's just not a good idea right now."

"Why is it not a good idea?" he asked. "I got the impression that we were kind of getting along, and you like me, right?"

Julie gave up a short laugh. "Yeah. I do."

"And I like you, so I really don't see what the problem is."

"Well, you should. We just… we don't belong in the same circles."

Scooter looked away from her, snorting dejectedly. "I forgot. The Montagues and the Capulets don't play well together."

"It's not just that. Everyone's kind of intense about this whole-"

"Rivalry?"

"Well, yeah. You can't say that your team isn't climbing the walls right now, 'cause mine is."

Scooter leaned up against the locker to his right, hoping to make some sense of the situation. "Yeah. Everyone's pretty riled up."

"And the keyword there is…"

"Riley," he sighed deeply. "Jules, I promise you, if I knew that he was up to something bad-"

"-you would tell me. I know that. Scott, I know that."

He looked up at her. "So that's it? We can't date, because Riley _might_ be up to something? Maybe he's just grown bored. Maybe he just wants a date." He slammed his hand into the locker. "Damn. He's just… He's everywhere. Always. Always doing something that ends up ruining things for everyone else. I can't get him out, you know, just… out."

Julie took a step closer, placing her hand on his arm. "You can help me," she suggested quietly.

He turned his attention back to her. "I can?"

"You can help me by finding out what he's up to. What he's planning to do to my team. Do you want to help me?"

"I don't know…" he mumbled with uncertainty, once again having an inner battle with himself. "It's my team, too."

"Well, you look after your stuff, and I'll look after mine. And when this whole thing's blown over, maybe you can call me." Julie gave him a sincere smile, before she let go of his arm and went over to the door to the library. She was just about to walk inside, when he spoke up again.

"I can help you. But only if I find out that it's something bad. I'll do the best I can. I can't do more than that."

"No one can," she said. "Thank you."

Even though he'd basically just been dumped, Scooter felt oddly at ease with the day.

* * *


End file.
